An employee assembles calculation board at a bitcoin mine in Sichuan province on 27 September 2016. China, the world's leader in bitcoin mining, is dominating both the currency's generation and the global trade in the currency. Sichuan has become known as 'the capital of bitcoin mining' as entrepreneurial Chinese set up 'mines' there due to its abundance of hydropower, perfect for the high electricity needs of the large number of computers required for bitcoin mining. Bitcoin mines are buildings with warehouselike structures equipped with massive numbers of microprocessors with which 'miners' solve complex maths problems and are rewarded in the digital currency.Photo: EPA

Tycoons riding on the global wave of bitcoin, other cryptocurrencies are about to learn the extent of their wealth

An employee assembles calculation board at a bitcoin mine in Sichuan province on 27 September 2016. China, the world's leader in bitcoin mining, is dominating both the currency's generation and the global trade in the currency. Sichuan has become known as 'the capital of bitcoin mining' as entrepreneurial Chinese set up 'mines' there due to its abundance of hydropower, perfect for the high electricity needs of the large number of computers required for bitcoin mining. Bitcoin mines are buildings with warehouselike structures equipped with massive numbers of microprocessors with which 'miners' solve complex maths problems and are rewarded in the digital currency.Photo: EPA